On Friday, when speculation about Percy Harvin’s future and hip injury were constant topics of interest but still only matters of speculation, Seahawks offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell talked about the possibility of life without Harvin.
More specifically, he was asked if Golden Tate could slide into Harvin’s role, if it came to that.
“Yeah, there are certain things we could do,” Bevell said. “[Doug Baldwin] can do a lot of the same things that Percy could do. Golden can do some of those things as well. There are different guys we can plug in.”
Tate has been the most impressive player in training camp so far. He has made his usual big plays, going up and over cornerbacks to haul in passes down the sideline. But Tate has always had that big-play ability in his arsenal.
In reality, Tate doesn’t take on any bigger role than he had last year. He will get more snaps and opportunities now this season than he would have had Harvin stayed fully healthy. Still, the Seahawks won’t ask him to be Percy Harvin. But if he takes the next step as a player, if he becomes more consistent and dependable this season, he could help counter the loss of Harvin by taking the next step in his career.
It's interesting that Bevell mentioned Baldwin first before talking about Tate. Later in the article, the writer (Jayson Jenks) says that Tate's role won't change much from last year. He's still a nice pick as a WR4 once the rounds hit double-digits (i.e. 10th or later), just don't expect him to fill Havin's role by himself.
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